If You Could Ask God For Just One Thing . . .

I ask God for a lot of things.

This isn't wrong. It isn't necessarily selfish or self-centered. I'm not a bad Christian because I lay out to God the desires of my heart and ask Him to provide for me according to His will. That's Biblical.

What if, though, I only asked God for one thing. What would it be?

Would I pray for my marriage, or the health and well being of my family? Would I pray for security, safety, success? What is the one thing I would lift up to Him?

I'm not sure.

Really, I'm not. Some might say I should pray for salvation,  which is certainly true if you don't have it. Others may say I should pray for faith, which isn't a bad thought at all. There's obedience, and strength, courage and perseverance, love, hope, humility . . . The list goes on and on.

None of these are bad. I'm just not sure any of them are the one.

What did David pray for?

In Psalm 27:4 David said there was one thing he asked of the Lord, one thing which he sought. He wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to see Him in His temple.

That sounds good. But what does it mean?

David spent a lot of his time fighting with Saul, the Philistines, and other enemies. This often put him at a distance from the tabernacle, from the physical representation of God's presence on earth, from the site of communal worship and fellowship with his people. David missed that. At the time he wrote the 27th Psalm, it seems to be the one thing he missed the most, the one thing he asked God to give him.

David wanted to be in the presence of God. He desired, more than anything, to be as close to his Lord as anyone could be. In His house. No wonder God considered David to be a man after His own heart.

David knew what was important.

He didn't lift up his kingship. Winning a battle didn't come first to his mind. Even his own safety and security were secondary to this one request. God, I want to be with you.

That's insight. That's faith. That's having your priorities in the right order. Because if you have that, if you have a closeness with God, everything else is going to be just fine. It may not end up how you thought you wanted it, but when you are in the presence of God, you have a different perspective.

I'm going to try to follow David's example. I'm going to try to put being in God's presence at the top of my prayer list every day. I'm going to try to get my priorities straight, to realize and understand that the one thing that really matters is God in my life.

I believe, when I do that, everything else will be just as it's supposed to be.
 

God Doesn't Think Like Me

Thankfully!

The verse above from Isaiah is often quoted or paraphrased when life doesn't go our way. When we experience hardship or loss, we pull out this truth from Scripture, and rightfully so.

But have you read Isaiah Chapter 55 to understand what that verse means in context? If not, you might be surprised.

You see, it's about forgiveness. When you read Isaiah 55, I hope you'll understand why I am so thankful for this verse.

God thinks in terms of truly forgiving.

The chapter begins with an invitation to all who are spiritually thirsty to come to the fountain of God. Beginning in verse 6 we see to whom God is truly calling out. Not the righteous, nor the godly. He is calling out to the wicked, and the evil.

Why?

So that He can pardon them. Forgive them. Give them a new start.

Because His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways.

We often think of rewarding and serving those who please us. God thinks of saving those who are His enemies. That is a fundamental difference in thinking, a completely different modus operandi. We tend to reach out to those with whom we have much in common. God seeks those who don't know Him at all.

Who among us would actively seek out those who have wronged us so that we could forgive them? Not I, at least not of myself. My thoughts are dark and evil when I am wronged. I may act out of the presence of the Spirit in my life, but those are not the thoughts of my human nature.

That's one way God doesn't think like me.

Thank you, Lord! For not so long ago, I was your enemy, too!

Who Am I To Question God?

Job questioned God.

Many of us are familiar with the story of Job. In short, he was the most righteous man on earth during his time, and because of that he caught the attention of both God and Satan. God holds Job up as an example, and Satan contends that if God were to take away what He had given the man, he would curse God.

God disagrees, and allows Satan to torment Job by destroying all his possessions, his family, and even his health. That happens in the first two chapters. The rest of the lengthy book records conversations between Job and three of his friends as they discuss the matter of his fall from might and grace to desolation and despair.

Now, Job is usually held up as the standard for how to act in difficult times, and I don't argue with that. What is not often talked about, however, is the fact that Job questioned God. He goes to great lengths to explain why he should not be suffering because he has been righteous his whole life. He closes his argument at the end of chapter 31 where, in verse 35 he says, Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense--let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

That's pretty darn bold! And, as it turns out, dangerous.

God answered.

Job laid out a great defense for himself. He gave to the poor, cared for widows and orphans, was faithful to his wife, feared God, served Him--everything he was supposed to do. He saw no reason for God to be treating him the way He was.

God saw it differently.

Chapter 38 is the beginning of God's response to Job, and it is as expansive as Job's defense of himself. What it boils down to is this: God told Job to brace himself like a man and prepare to get the answer for which he asked. God then basically said, I created everything. I control everything. I am everything. What are you?

Job got the point.

Four chapters later in Chapter 42, sufficiently chastised, Job gets it. The Bible doesn't say, but I'm pretty sure Job is down on his knees as he says, more or less, I get it! You're everything, I'm nothing! I'm sorry!

The end of the story tells how God, after Job had repented of his questioning, returned to him all that had been taken away and more. He survived the test and came out glowing. Just remember that part of that glow was the red-faced embarrassment of being put in his place by God Almighty.

What's the point for us?

The point for us, or at least me, is in God's answer to Job's lament that he was being treated unfairly. It doesn't matter how good I think I am, how important I think I am, or how well I think I'm doing. Compared to God, I am nothing. If God chooses or allows me to go through this or that trial, who am I to complain?

Who am I, who is nothing, to question God, who is everything?   

Someone's Always Watching

Ever make a stupid mistake, and hope no one saw you?

Here's the bad news. They did. I know. I've been there, and done that.

Here are some examples. Some of them are mine, some are anonymous. I'll let you decide which is which.

We're all harebrained at times.

Ever pull in to the gas station with the pump on the wrong side and try to stretch the hose over the top of the vehicle? Usually doesn't work.

Ever push the button on a vending machine about 50 times before you realize you haven't put in enough money? Forget your PIN at the ATM? Go to the store, get to the checkout, and realize you don't have your wallet/purse? Or not enough money?

Ever been caught with your fly open, shirt buttoned wrong, or a hole in your pants? Get out of the house with your shirt on backwards, or inside out and someone will notice. Every time.

Lock you keys in the car? Guarantee someone will be there to witness it. Get pulled over by the police? Half the people you know will drive by, even if you're out of state. Lose your car in a mall parking lot and at least a dozen people will see you wandering around, pushing the lock button trying to hear the horn.

Get a flat tire in rush hour and no one will look your way, but stop to utilize God's latrine in the middle of the night and 3 people will stop to see if you need help.

When I get it right, no once notices. But one little slip . . .

Someone's always watching.

Like the person who buried their car in wet concrete in a highway construction zone. They ended up on the news, and about a million Facebook shares. The person who ran their convertible--with the top open--through a car wash? 5 minutes of fame--or rather infamy.

Drive your car in a lake, leave your kid at the store, enter an exit ramp on the interstate (I know someone who did that!), send a get-well card on funeral flowers (it's happened),  or a sympathy card to a wedding and someone's cell phone will capture the moment.

The moral of the story?

There is no such thing as privacy out there. Keep that in mind, or you just might end up on Facebook. 

My God Cares

God is good . . . all the time.

I don't know everything. Sometimes I don't know much. There are, however, two things I know. Maybe even three.

First, I know that God is good. This is a simple, but all encompassing statement that probably has less impact on us than is deserved. Part of the reason is because we use the word good to describe pretty much everything. That was a good meal. That was a good ballgame. I had a good time. Oh, and God's good, too. Good grief!

To say that God is good is not to comment on His quality, but rather to describe His nature. God is inherently good, no matter what. A burger isn't so good when it's burnt, blow-out ballgames aren't that fun to watch, and a good time can be ruined in a moment.

God's not like that. No matter what, no matter when, no matter how, God is good. Nothing can change that.

That's number one.

I will have times of trouble.

As much as I'd like to think I won't, I'm going to have bad days. Life is hard. I'm going to screw it up some days, and others it's not going to be my fault at all. Doesn't change a thing. I'm going to have trouble at home, trouble at work, trouble with others and trouble with myself.

When I was younger, a neighbor of ours said my middle name should be trouble. Maybe they were right.

Trouble seems to follow me around, but I don't feel so bad about that because I know it follows you as well. I don't even know who you are, but it doesn't matter. Everyone has had trouble, has trouble, and will have trouble. That's called life.

That's two.

God is there for those who trust Him.

This may actually be a result or an extension of number one, but is big enough it earns a spot of its own (and I'd rather say I know three things than two!). In our verse above, this idea that God is there for those who trust Him is brought out in the words refuge and cares.

That God is a refuge in times of trouble means that He is there as a place of safety and shelter when your world wobbles on its axis. Like an injured child runs to his mother for comfort, so can we turn to God when we are hurt, afraid, confused, or whatever. When trouble strikes, God is our safe haven.

When we get to Him, when we reach that place of refuge and safety, we find a God who cares. Not a distant, impersonal, uncaring deity who has no interest in the mundane matters of humanity, but rather a loving and caring Abba Father who will wrap His loving arms around us and make everything feel right again.

A simple verse with three important lessons.

God is good. I will have trouble. When I do, God is there for me.

If that's all I know, I'm not doing so bad after all. 



 

Better Times Are Coming

This life hurts.

You could even say, at times, life isn't fair, fun, or even worth getting out of bed. People get hurt. They get sick. Sometimes we even lose them completely. There is pain. There is sorrow. There is the constant shadow of death hanging over us.

God gets it. He really does.

We could say that this wasn't God's intent, and we'd be right--God created the world perfect, without pain, or sorrow, or death. We're the ones who mucked things up. But what good does knowing that do us now? What good is knowing what was meant to be?

We are hurting. We are suffering. We are afraid. That's now. That's where we are. This isn't Eden. This life isn't perfect. Not by a long shot.

Better times are coming.

God understands our hurts, our pains, our losses and fears. He gets it. He's been there. When Jesus was here in the flesh, God looked at Him every day knowing He was going to die. He knew the pain and suffering His Son would face. He understands the apprehension of watching a loved one near their time. He's walked that lonely path.

He also knows better times are ahead.

God's plan is for us to live once again in a world of perfection. A world without pain. A world without fear. A world without suffering, sorrow, and even the shadow of death. You see, God did not create us to die. He created us to live. And live we will!

A time is coming when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. Never again will we fear losing someone we love. Forevermore will we know the joy of being together, walking hand in hand with those we love without the restraining specter of death peering over our shoulder.

Those are better times. That is God's plan for us. That is our future.

When?

I don't know. No one does. What I do know is this: I have hope.

Today is hard, but tomorrow--whenever that tomorrow comes--will be worth all I go through today and more. I can endure the hurt of today knowing that once tomorrow comes, I will never hurt again. I can say goodbye knowing it is for only the briefest of moments. I can let go today knowing I will never have to do it again.

It's not easy, all this waiting, watching, worrying. Even knowing what is to come, I feel the pain of today. But that hope, that knowledge that one day God will wipe away every tear, comfort every fear, and whisper soft words of love to my aching soul helps me get through.

This life hurts, it is true.

But better times are coming.

 

God's Talking--Are You Listening?

God's not listening.

Ever feel that way? Have you felt like it didn't matter how much you pray, God's not going to answer? In those times when you most want to hear Him, do you get mad because He seems distant, uncaring, silent? Are you frustrated because He doesn't answer? Do you think He's not listening?

He is.

But are you?

God does hear, and His answers are probably clearer than we think.

When I pray for guidance from God, I'll often ask Him to make the right choice clear. I'll ask Him to clearly show what He would have me do (because I'm fairly dense and often need a picture to get the message). That's probably not necessary.

See, I don't think God is shy about telling us what He wants us to do. Nor do I think He's hesitant to make clear His intentions or desires. I don't believe God is at all detached and uncaring, or lacks the confidence to tell us exactly what He thinks we should do.

I'm not at all sure, however, that we always want to hear it. In fact, I know I don't.

I've asked for things that, as it turns out, were not in God's plan. I prayed for God's will to be done, and asked Him to show me what He wanted to happen. I then turned a blind eye and deaf ear to every answer except the one I was looking for.

As a result, I never heard a thing.

Communication is a two way street.

If you send someone a text, and they call you instead of responding by text, does that mean they didn't answer? If you message someone on Facebook, and they respond by email, did they ignore you? If you ask someone a question and they simply nod their head, did they not respond?

My point is, God doesn't always speak the way we want or expect. I'd love for God to answer me out loud. That'd be a whole lot easier! That's not how God has worked in my life, however. God uses different forms of communication. It's up to me to pay attention and hear Him, however He speaks.

All of creation is at God's disposal to use. Why do we have Facebook, Twitter, Snap-Chat and Google+ in addition to text and phone? Because each is specially suited for certain times and uses.

 I think that's how it works for God, too. Sometimes the best way for Him to communicate is through His Word. Other times, He might use another person. Maybe a dream, a thought, a feeling. We speak of God opening and closing doors of opportunity, and that's a way He speaks as well.

The world and everything in it is in God's hands to communicate with us. He speaks all the time.

Are we listening?